A. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention, set forth herein, relate to a cap for a container, and more particularly, the embodiments of the present invention relate to a smart cap for a container used to dispense a medication and for automatically (a) self-verifying the medication once the smart cap has been programmed for the medication so as to prevent improper dispensing thereof, (b) indicating and verifying the number of pills in the container, (c) indicating and verifying timing medication as prescribed (d) communicating relevant instructions and/or cautions in a language that the patient understands, as well as (e) providing other and different features and advantages flowing and/or derivable from these.
B. Description of Prior Art1 
Patients, especially the elderly, are prone to forget at times to take a medication or may not recall if they actually took it. This problem is aggravated with each additional medication that they are required to take. 1See Improving Prescription Drug Container Labeling in the United States, A Health Literacy and Medication Safety Initiative, A White Paper Commissioned by the American College of Physicians Foundation.
Patients often fail to realize that they are out of a medication and must go without that medication until they can get a refill.
Many patients from other countries are unable to understand English dosing instructions and/or cautions.
Errors can and do occur when physicians manuscript and/or when pharmacists read a prescription or dispense a medication to consumers. These risks have been increased by:                increasing volume of prescriptions filled causing increased stress on physicians and on pharmacy staffs.        increasing use of poorly trained, overworked and/or mentally challenged pharmacy technicians.        increasing additions of FDA-approved medications, many of which look alike or sound alike.        
These mix-ups, have been documented and can cause great harm and even death to consumers.
More and more, consumers are becoming confused and even anxious that the medications they are taking are the ones prescribed by their physicians, because virtually every refill seems to contain a new and unfamiliar-looking generic form of a medication. This confusion is due to the fact that insurance plans frequently change their approved formulary—generic brands that they will pay for—usually approving a least expensive manufacturer at that particular time.
Even at the wholesale level, or in hospitals or in nursing homes, it is possible that a wrong medication is packaged in a large wholesale bottle or other container having a different label. It would be virtually impossible for the pharmacist to determine this mixup. And, intentional and unintentional switching of medications among containers by others can occur without knowledge of the consumer.
Numerous innovations for medication verifying systems have been provided in the prior art, which will be described below in chronological order to show advancement in the art, and which are incorporated herein by reference. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes which they address, nevertheless, they differ from the present invention in that they do not teach a smart cap for a container to dispense a medication and for automatically (a) self-verifying the medication once the smart cap has been automatically programmed for the medication so as to prevent improper dispensing of the medication, (b) indicating and verifying the number of pills in the container, (c) indicating and verifying timely compliance for taking medication as prescribed (d) communicating relevant instructions and/or cautions in a language that the patient understands. The self verifying can be accomplished using video comparison from various points of view, it can also be done using other indicia such as bar codes. Other and different teachings and advantages flow herefrom.    (1) U.S. Pat. No. 4,918,604 to Baum.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,918,604 issued to Baum on Apr. 17, 1990 in U.S. class 364 and subclass 413.01 teaches a drug labeling and prescription filing system. A multiplicity of files of data are maintained. Each file of data represents a color graphic illustration of a different prescription drug. When a prescription drug is filled, the corresponding file of data is automatically selected and used to control a color printer to print a graphic illustration of the drug of the prescription on the label applied to the container and containing the prescription data.
Baum teaches a picture of only one side of a pill on the container label, thereby only providing a visual check of one side of the pill. Baum fails if the patient has poor vision or is not competent enough to check all the medications they are taking.    (2) U.S. Pat. No. 6,036,017 to Bayliss, IV.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,036,017 issued to Bayliss, IV on Mar. 14, 2000 in U.S. class 206 and subclass 534 teaches a container for holding prescription pills or other medication, which includes a cylindrical receptacle, a detachable cap, and a label. A pill holder is positioned beneath the cap, which includes a magnifying lens through which the interior of the pill holder can be viewed. The label includes the name of the prescribed medicine and a picture of a pill. When the prescription is filled, one pill is placed in the pill holder. The pill and the pill picture can then be compared to determine if the correct medicine has been provided. The label is prepared by: providing a processor having a keyboard, a database including data relating to images of a plurality of prescription medicine pills, a label printer, and an unprinted label; entering the name of the prescription medicine into the processor; selecting an image of a pill in the database corresponding to the name; and printing the name and the selected image onto the label.
Bayliss, IV teaches providing a picture of only one side of the pill on the container label, thereby only providing a visual check of one side of the pill. Bayliss fails if the patient has poor vision or is not competent enough to check all the medications they are taking.    (3) U.S. Pat. No. 6,386,367 to Bayliss, IV.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,386,367 issued to Bayliss, IV on May 14, 2002 in U.S. class 206 and subclass 534 teaches a container for holding prescription pills or other medication, which includes a cylindrical receptacle, a detachable cap, and a label. A pill holder is positioned beneath the cap, which includes a magnifying lens through which the interior of the pill holder can be viewed. The label includes the name of the prescribed medicine and a picture of a pill. When the prescription is filled, one pill is placed in the pill holder. The pill and the pill picture can then be compared to determine if the correct medicine has been provided. The label is prepared by: providing a processor having a keyboard, a database including data relating to images of a plurality of prescription medicine pills, a label printer, and a label; entering the name of the prescription medicine into the processor; selecting an image of a pill in the database using the name entered; and printing the name and the selected image onto the label.
Bayliss, IV teaches a picture of only one side of the pill on the container label, thereby only providing a visual check of one side of the pill. Bayliss, IV fails if the patient has poor vision or is not competent enough to check all the medications they are taking.    (4) United States Patent Application Publication Number 2003/0189732 to Bean.
United States Patent Application Publication Number 2003/0189732 published to Bean on Oct. 9, 2003 in U.S. class 358 and subclass 302 teaches a prescription label having at least an image of a client who is intended to consume a prescribed drug and a prescription information region identifying at least the prescribed drug.
Bean fails by not providing patients with the ability to identify their medications.    (5) U.S. Pat. No. 7,044,664 to Papetti.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,044,664 issued to Papetti on May 16, 2006 in U.S. class 400 and subclass 124.01 teaches a prescription drug printing machine used by a physician in connection with prescribing one or more prescription drugs to a patient. The printing machine has a memory unit containing a database of information on all known available prescription drugs, including a colored pictorial representation of each of the available drugs. Each of the colored pictorial representations is a substantially similar replica of the drug it depicts. Preferably, the colored pictorial representation is an exact replica of the actual drug, and containing the drug's exact color, shape, and size. The printing device includes first and second printing apparatuses for printing a prescription drug form and a patient receipt, respectively. Both of the prescription drug form and the patient receipt include the name of the drug, a colored pictorial representation, and other information. The prescribing physician inspects each of these documents for accuracy before handing them both over to the patient. Patients remit their prescription drug form to a pharmacist and retain the patient receipt for comparison with drugs that are prepared for them by the pharmacist. The printing machine has storage apparatus for storing information concerning the prescription drug form in the memory unit of the printer in order to keep accurate patient records. The printing device optionally includes translating apparatus for translating the prescription drug information into a foreign language.
Papetti fails by providing an unnecessarily complex machine that does not permit the patients to identify their medications. The patients do not access the memory unit of the prescription drug printing machine of the physician. Further the pharmacist is not obligated to dispense a specific generic medication that the physician has prescribed.    (6) United States Patent Application Publication Number 2008/0056556 to Eller et al.
United States Patent Application Publication Number 2008/0056556 published to Eller et al. on Mar. 6, 2008 in U.S. class 382 and subclass 142 teaches a prescription imaging system for capturing, storing, and displaying images of prescription bottles during the prescription fulfillment process to monitor the quality of the fulfillment process. The system includes one or more pill cameras for capturing images of pills dispensed into one or more prescription bottles, and one or more label cameras for capturing images of the bottle labels. The images are stored on a storage device in a database record. The images can be used to verify that the pills in each bottle correspond with the associated prescription.
Eller et al. fail by not permitting patients to identify their medications.
It is apparent that numerous innovations for medication verifying systems have been provided in the prior art, some of which are being used. Furthermore, even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes which they address, nevertheless, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the embodiments of the present invention as heretofore and hereafter described, namely, a smart cap for a container to dispense a medication and for automatically (a) self-verifying at least two (2) sides of the medication once the smart cap has been programmed for visually identifying the medication so as to prevent improper dispensing thereof, (b) indicating and verifying the number of pills in the container, (c) indicating and verifying timely, (for example daily/weekly/monthly) compliance for taking of the medication as prescribed, (d) communicating instructions and/or cautions to patients in a language(s) or vernacular(s) understandable to the patients, and/or (e) verifying some or all of the foregoing by means of bar codes or other identifiers.